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i find it funny, too, how you mention that mavis 500 or any plastic shuttles are not for "real badminton players"

Yes, I am a strong advocate against use of plastic shuttles because plastics degrade the beautiful game of badminton. Plastics are not close to feathers, the former have no body but just a 'fishing' net with holes that are molded together to look like a 'skirt'. Just cut out a feather from a feather shuttlecock and cut out a similarly sized piece from the plastic's 'skirt' and put them side by side. You will be shocked how different they are.
Plastics are not being considered even by beginners in the strong Asian badminton countries. Its extensive use in North America is one reason why it is so hard for them to play the beautiful game the way it should be played, barring those select few who know better.

Yes, I am a strong advocate against use of plastic shuttles because plastics degrade the beautiful game of badminton. Plastics are not close to feathers, the former have no body but just a 'fishing' net with holes that are molded together to look like a 'skirt'. Just cut out a feather from a feather shuttlecock and cut out a similarly sized piece from the plastic's 'skirt' and put them side by side. You will be shocked how different they are.
Plastics are not being considered even by beginners in the strong Asian badminton countries. Its extensive use in North America is one reason why it is so hard for them to play the beautiful game the way it should be played, barring those select few who know better.

once again, you fail to note my previous post. i have searched these forums here and have seen a great many of your posts. it seems that you really hate nylon shuttlecocks

many of your points are very true, some are exaggerated; but still sure you do make a point. playing w/ nylons is very different than playing w/ feathers. as i said previously though, playing w/ nylons and playing w/ feathers is as different as badminton and tennis or at least that is how i choose to view it. neither is better than the other when playing for fun. i, being in so-cal and being exposed to badminton in high school grew up playing w/ nylon so nylon is my norm

point is, 99 percent of us are playing badminton for fun so we should be able to choose whatever the heck we like. if badminton truly requires this "technique" and "skill", that you say nylon jeopardizes, to be fun, i wouldve given badminton up when i started

Of course there is room for nylon badminton but only on the beaches, public parks and during picnics as part of the total fun. In the East here, even at such places many use feathers. Plastics are completely absent from the more than 1, 000 indoor badminton courts in Hong Kong. The same is true all over Asia.
However, it appears that this is not the case in North America where plastics have invaded the hallowed indoor courts of badminton. Here in Asia this could be considered a sacrilege.
Yes, both feathers and plastics can be played for fun, but in Asia they have fun in their separate ways-plastics for places such as beaches and public parks, feathers for the real game indoors-never shall the twine meet.

I would like to beg the differ. If the MAV500 cost 20% more than the crappy duck feather one and has better flight path and durability then the crappy duck feather one. Why not use the M500? You may be able to get good feather shuttles about the same price as M500. However many people do not have the option. It is either crappy feather that die after 2 clears or flies 2 x the length of the court vs M500. I for 1 will suggest best plastic shuttle for the budget of the player. That is the point we try to make. Not snutty comments.

Of course there is room for nylon badminton but only on the beaches, public parks and during picnics as part of the total fun. In the East here, even at such places many use feathers. Plastics are completely absent from the more than 1, 000 indoor badminton courts in Hong Kong. The same is true all over Asia.
However, it appears that this is not the case in North America where plastics have invaded the hallowed indoor courts of badminton. Here in Asia this could be considered a sacrilege.
Yes, both feathers and plastics can be played for fun, but in Asia they have fun in their separate ways-plastics for places such as beaches and public parks, feathers for the real game indoors-never shall the twine meet.

is that why badminton is so hard to get popularized in north amercia because we spend too much time on the beaches and parks instead of in the courts with mercury and sodium lamps?

Relative to earning power feathers cost more for Asians than North Americans. So there is no excuse about the high feathers costs in North America.
I strongly believe that the extensive use of plastics in North America, especially among the young, is a major reason for its low standard of badminton. Also there is a great mismatch or misuse in using expensive branded racquets on cheapy plastics. The US was a major badminton power in the 1950s when plastics never saw the light of day in any US courts. Today, how things have turned for the worse and as a consequence the North Americans have got it all so wrong. Badminton needs North Americans to regain their earlier eminence but its new found plastics badminton foundation has now sealed its fate as a perpetual bottom finisher.

Yes, I am a strong advocate against use of plastic shuttles because plastics degrade the beautiful game of badminton. Plastics are not close to feathers, the former have no body but just a 'fishing' net with holes that are molded together to look like a 'skirt'. Just cut out a feather from a feather shuttlecock and cut out a similarly sized piece from the plastic's 'skirt' and put them side by side. You will be shocked how different they are.
Plastics are not being considered even by beginners in the strong Asian badminton countries. Its extensive use in North America is one reason why it is so hard for them to play the beautiful game the way it should be played, barring those select few who know better.

Badminton has not made a great deal of impact in the United States except for the respective coastal areas, where it is already presumably a high cost to live. Therefore, there is less money being spent on the luxuries of feathers. In Hong Kong, being the prime example here, people do not live in houses, but mostly rent apartments. Therefore, it is unlikely that the cost would affect their budget as much. It is also due to the popularity and the symbolic nature of international-class players, along with influence from mainland China, that there is great publicity. Having over 1,000 indoor courts for badminton use also helps stimulate and potentiate the passion to be involved in the sport and try to attain the eminence of professionals. Such facilities are not widely available in other countries, where the staple of sports does not involve such high ceilings; excluding basketball courts, which are not always suitable to set up nets on. There are very few well-known contemporary badminton players in America or Canada, except to those actively participating in the sport. It is not a well-respected sport at that, and the impact of school tournaments being sponsored by companies such as HL means that nylons will be predominant, even in club play. Students usually are not well-off enough to constantly purchase feathers and with these types of sponsorships and the use of plastics in their gyms, it makes no sense to play with feathers during practice, when the shuttle will not be flying so slowly during interscholastic competition. It then becomes a tradition of plastics.

Of course there is room for nylon badminton but only on the beaches, public parks and during picnics as part of the total fun. In the East here, even at such places many use feathers. Plastics are completely absent from the more than 1, 000 indoor badminton courts in Hong Kong. The same is true all over Asia.
However, it appears that this is not the case in North America where plastics have invaded the hallowed indoor courts of badminton. Here in Asia this could be considered a sacrilege.
Yes, both feathers and plastics can be played for fun, but in Asia they have fun in their separate ways-plastics for places such as beaches and public parks, feathers for the real game indoors-never shall the twine meet.

since plastic still exist these days since its invention, it proved that plastic shuttles has its good points or else plastic is long gone by now. Using popularity in one locale to put down populairty in another locale as a show of superiority is a dumb illustration. Practically everybody in HK/china live in apt and condo, while majority of north americans lived in single houses with backyard. Does this mean the apt and condo superior to owning houses considering there are way more chineses in china+HK than americans

i know a few hardcore feather players only plays aerosensa ie, yonex AS shuttle because they are so used to it and that's because they train, play for tournaments, and tournaments here very often use AS shuttle. Sure they're skilled but they sure don't like applying their skills to play even other brands of feather shuttles. So, do feather players who plays victor, aeroplane, tronex, etc less skilled than feather players who plays yonex AS only?